A/N Thanks for all the reviews and everything … as always I am pleased to see that my storyline is to your liking.
At the end of the last chapter I'd announced the reappearance of another character … but you will see that it will not be an actual return … for now … only an introduction of that person and her thoughts on what had happened on the night on Bella's birthday party and the resulting consequences …
Just for the record, I might change some tiny little details of what had transpired before Edward had left to better fit into my story. You will see what I mean … but I hope it will not bother you so much …
Enjoy!!!
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Chapter 8 I told you so
Five months ago on the eve of Bella's 18th birthday party …
An hour before Bella's arrival …
Rosalie POV
The hood of my red-convertible was popped up, and I leaned over to reach for the some tool I required. I loved working on my car … or any car I could get my hands on for that matter. Edward's Vanquish, unfortunately, was of limits, but at least Carlisle and Emmett allowed me to upgrade their vehicles from time to time and (mostly) appreciated my handiwork. It was my favourite pastime ... just like Alice loved to go shopping ... a lot. Jasper and Edward shared an interest in reading and music although their tastes in both hobbies differed considerably. Esme was the creative one in our family, and always busy with planning and redecorating. Most of Carlisle's time was usually occupied with his work at the hospital, but he didn't seem to mind, because he enjoyed it too much. Well, and my Emmett was happy watching TV and playing his games ... or with me.
Without the need for sleep like a human, it was truly necessary to come up with something useful or interesting to occupy ourselves ... especially with this great amount of extra time at a vampire hand.
But right now, the garage was more than the usual place to help me relax, and an opportunity to work on my car ... it was a hideout. For days now, Alice and Esme had been planning and preparing the big surprise birthday party for Bella, Edward's human girlfriend. Today was Bella's 18th birthday and Alice had insisted on throwing her a party, even though Edward had told her over and over again that Bella hated any kind of attention, but of course Alice wouldn't budge. Once she'd made up her mind, there was usually nothing anybody of us could do or say, to make her change her mind. Not even Jasper who was supposed to be her mate had any influential power over her whatsoever which was odd in my opinion. Of course, Emmett and I had our little quarrels like every couple but we usually were on the same page when it came down to making important decisions ... or at least we tried to find a compromise that suited us both. But Jasper and Alice were nothing like us ... on so many levels ... and sometimes I wondered if they really belonged together. But they seemed to be happy, so I had never shared my doubts with any of them.
Call me selfish if you want ... but I try not to stick my nose in things where it doesn't belong.
Even though Edward had been against this whole party thing at first, he was now pretty excited about it too, and so was everyone else ... well, except me. I did my best to stay out of the whole preparation process, because I didn't want to be a part of it ... actually not only the pathetic birthday party but this whole ridiculous so-called relationship between my brother and this human girl.
From the very beginning I'd made it perfectly clear where I stood regarding this subject. In my opinion it had been a bad idea to encourage my brother to get to know the girl who was not only impervious to his gift but above all whose blood sang to him.
Get to know her ... then you won't be tempted ... that's just hilarious ... and stupid ... playing with this poor girl's life ... as an experiment to test the strength in his ability to withstand the appeal of the most delicious blood he'd ever had ... crazy, just crazy ...
But everyone ... except me and maybe Jasper ... had total confidence in this foolish endeavour. Of course, why wouldn't they? Edward was the golden boy, the 'first born', and nobody thought he would fail in anything.
I could clearly remember the family meeting we'd had after Edward's first encounter with Bella. How shaken he had been, afraid to slip up ... and thus him being the weakest link in the family for a change. Usually, this particular role was taken by Jasper ... Yes it was true, my dearest brother had to struggle more with our abnormal choice of lifestyle than anyone of us, but considering his past it was only reasonable. Edward had left us for almost a week, but of course he came back, to prove himself.
Apart from Carlisle and me, who'd never tasted human blood, all of them had slipped up once in a while ... at least in the very beginning. And Emmett had met his equivalents to Edward's human twice ... and hadn't been able to resist on both occasions. So, why did the family have this unending amount of faith in Edward to accomplish this insane goal? To abstain from biting this girl whose blood literally called out to him? I still had no answers to these questions.
And Jasper did the best he could to resist ... because he really wanted to stay with the family, to have a place where he'd finally belonged. And he was smart enough to avoid temptations like Bella if he could help it. Knowing how hard it was to resist at all, of course he had sided with me after the incident with the car.
Yes, our plan to kill the poor girl who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time that day and unknowingly had become an unhealthy obsession of my brother's had probably been a little too hasty and cruel. But we'd both had only the safety of our family in mind. Keeping our existence a secret from the humans was imperative to survive in our world, and in acting this recklessly Edward could have exposed us not only to her but to a lot of the other students as well. And no one of us wanted to attract the attention and wrath of the Volturi. I had been so mad at him that day I could have ripped him to pieces and would have danced around the pyre.
But then Alice came along with her visions ... visions of Edward falling in love with the girl and her becoming one of us some day. Of course, all of us had been shocked by this information, but apparently this revelation had changed everything.
Over the next weeks Edward had tried to stay away from Bella, but he'd finally caved. Oddly, he hadn't revealed our secret to her. No, she had been smart enough to figure it out all by herself ... with a little help from a friend from the Indian reservation down at La Push according to Edward. Being already too smitten with her, he'd not even tried to deny anything. All of us ... including myself ... had been impressed who well she'd taken the truth about us. She hadn't seemed to be scared at all only intrigued.
The unpleasant incident with James' coven should have finally convinced Edward and the rest of my family, how fragile and weak she actually was ... that she didn't belong in our world no matter how nice she was. But strangely, this event seemed to have an adverse effect ... at the very least on Bella. From time to time I caught glimpses of her looking at Edward like he was her saviour ... her white knight in shining armour. But as far as I was concerned, this event had been the beginning of the end ... the turning point.
Now Edward had tasted her blood once... and I was certain that he would always crave for a second helping (pun intended). I'd tried to talk to him about it, try to warn him of the danger her presence among us presented, that this whole thing was crazy and he was endangering her life, and would probably ending on killing her anyway, but he wouldn't listen. He was too proud, and too selfish to see what was right in front of his eyes. He seemed to forget, that we all were a potential danger to her.
But Edward probably thought that I was just jealous of Bella, that she'd succeeded where I'd failed ... getting to his heart. Yes, I envied her ... but not for him loving her ... but for the life she had, all the possibilities in a human life, a true future ... a family, all the things I'd been denied in my human life ... and then in my vampire existence. And she was willing to give up her human life to be with someone who was just as inexperienced in love and life as she was. I was pretty sure he'd read my thoughts, to know what I was thinking about Bella, but I was sure that he couldn't fully comprehend their meaning. We'd never been very close before, but since Bella had stumbled into our lives, the little connection we'd shared got more and more strained.
Needless to say, Esme had been over the moon when she'd discovered that this simple girl had such a positive effect on her favourite son. True, he'd definitely changed for the better ... at least a little ... no more brooding around all of the time ... more laughter.
Carlisle was happy, and very proud of his son.
Alice was just ... well ... just Alice. Overly pleased to have someone new to play with.
Emmett was happy to play the role of the big brother, and enjoyed teasing Bella on many occasions.
And I kept my distance for the most part ... and so did Jasper, although for different reasons.
Even from here, I could hear Alice and Esme rummaging through the house, preparing everything for the big birthday party. Alice was bouncing up and down the stairs in rapid succession, shouting commands at everyone who was willing to comply. I knew sooner or later she would notice my absence in this whole preparation process, and would come looking for me.
Speak of the devil ... and the devil shall appear ...
I could sense her approach, even before I heard her voice. "Rosalie!" Alice screeched, hysterically, stopping right at my side.
God, one of these days her voice will make my ears bleed, I swear ... I have no idea how Jasper is dealing with it ... or her for that matter ...
"What the hell are you doing in here?" She asked, her voice pitching even higher.
"Isn't it obvious? I'm working on my car." I answered, evenly, trying to ignore her presence all together.
"Now?Bella will be here in half an hour … You need to change into something nice." The little pixie ordered, emphasizing the last word. She shot me an annoyed and disgusted look when she took in my current outfit. What was she expecting me to wear? A designer outfit instead of my working overall to work on my car? "I'll help you … if you want me to."
"No thank you. I think I'm old enough to dress myself." I declined her generous offer, rolling my eyes in annoyance, but keeping my head down, so she couldn't see it. Knowing that she wouldn't leave unless I would come with her, I put down the tools, and closed the hood of the car. She led the way, and I reluctantly followed.
On my way to our room I came across Jasper. He smirked slightly at my annoyed expression. "Do me a favour and use some of your gift on your little wife. She is getting on my last nerve." I snapped at him.
"I could try ... but I doubt that it would work." He allowed, letting me feel his helplessness concerning this matter.
Poor guy ...
"Hmpf," I grumbled, but then I remembered that I hadn't seen him for the past few hours. "Where have you been anyway?"
"Emmett and I went for a short hunt." He simply said, shrugging his shoulders in a dismissive manner.
I was surprised. "Why? We all went hunting last night."
"Alice and Edward had suggested it ... as an extra precaution." He answered, sinking his head in sheer humiliation. I hated to see him like that, feeling and acting like he was a liability.
I will have a word with both of them later, for making him feel weak and ashamed of himself ... again ... he deserves better ...
"And Emmett came along to keep me company." He added quickly.
"Extra precaution ..." I mumbled incoherently. I longed to comfort him, but I knew with all the sensitive ears in the house, I couldn't do it with words. So I reached out, and gently stroked his cheek instead, and sending him my love and sympathy along with my touch. He smiled timidly, but didn't say a word. We often had these silent conversations, not actually needing words to express what we were feeling or thinking, and considering his special gift words were hardly necessary to begin with.
I turned around, walking straight down the hall towards the room Emmett and I shared. I could hear the shower running, and smiled to myself in anticipation. I had planned to only take a quick shower, and then changing into something nice as Alice had demanded. But now my mind was suddenly on a different matter.
Combining necessity with pleasure, mmmh …
"I don't think there is time for that." Jasper commented, rolling his eyes at me.
"Mind your own business!" I playfully growled at him, before slamming the door shut behind me. I could still hear Jasper laughing heartily, while he was making his way downstairs, and I couldn't suppress a smile myself. At least he was in a better mood now, with his mind diverted from his earlier depression.
I am always eager to please ... and speaking of pleasing ...
I quickly disposed off my clothes and went into our private bathroom. Emmett stood with his back to me under the spray of water, in all his naked glory. Of course, he'd already sensed that I was near, but he didn't turn around. He knew perfectly well that I loved to admire his muscular and yummy backside, almost as much as other parts of his gorgeous body. I slid open the glass door of the shower, and stepped in behind him.
"Need some assistance?" I purred into Emmett's ear, letting my hand trail down from his neck to his ass, squeezing it lightly. That action earned me a low growl on his part, which sent shivers down my spine. I knew how this would end, and the anticipation of things to come made my whole body tremble.
Emmett slowly turned around, taking me into his strong arms and kissing me passionately. "Always ..." He moaned into my mouth, letting his strong hands wander over me body, teasing me in all the right places.
"We have to hurry." I whispered, raggedly.
"No problem." He replied, smirking at me, before he continued to worship my body ...
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Only twenty minutes later we both were clean, dried and dressed up, and finally joining the other family members downstairs. I actually felt more relaxed now, like I always did after making love to my mate. Happy and satisfied. While we had been putting on our clothes Emmett had made me promise again to behave myself ... for Bella's sake. I'd agreed of course, not wanting to disappoint or anger my mate. I would do almost anything in order to see him happy ... and even though I didn't care much about Bella in general, I didn't want her to think that I hated her, because really I didn't ... not after realizing how much happiness she'd brought to the whole family ... but especially to my Emmett. Who could hate a person for doing something like that?
Right on time ... I thought slyly when I heard the familiar sound of Bella's truck coming to a halt outside.
When Edward and Bella came through the door, we all greeted her with a cheerful chorus of, "Happy birthday!"
The shock in her face was simply priceless, I almost laughed out loud, but I caught myself just in time. Bella openly gaped at the room, taking it in what Alice had done in her frenzied preparation for this evening. Especially with the knowledge that Bella wasn't really into this, Alice had really overdone it. Bella was blushing as always, but there was also a slight frown on her face, telling me that she felt more uncomfortable than actually embarrassed. She tried to hide it as best as she could, but it was pretty obvious to me that she didn't want to be here ... at least not to celebrate her birthday, not like that. I pitied her for being dragged into this against her will, and couldn't help myself for being a little angry with Edward for forcing her to do something she apparently didn't want to do. It was her birthday after all. Shouldn't that mean that it was up to her to decide what to do, and how to do it?
Apparently not ... Way to go, Edward ... always making the choices for her instead with her like she'd deserved it ... she is not a child ... at least not anymore...
Just then I felt someone nudging me in the rips, and I glanced around to see who it was. Jasper glared at me with a knowing look on his face.
Ooops ... I realized at once that Jasper had sensed my rising anger, and had tried to warn me. I quickly turned my head around and looked at Edward, to see if he'd read my mind, but his focus was solely on Bella at the moment, so apparently he hadn't noticed my slip up. Thank God!
"Thanks." I breathed in Jasper's direction, and he just nodded imperceptibly.
Carlisle and Esme moved forward to congratulate Bella, and I could hear Carlisle whisper, "Sorry about this, Bella. We couldn't rein Alice in."
I chuckled lightly under my breath, and so did Jasper beside me. Bella smiled at all of us, politely as always and trying not to appear ungrateful. For a second there her eyes met mine and could see something different in her eyes. Normally, she avoided me as much as I avoided her, but today she smiled at me timidly but genuinely, with a glint of hope in her eyes, before she quickly diverted her eyes somewhere else.
Wow ... I truly had been a bitch ... for her acting like this ...maybe I should give her a chance after all ...
"You haven't changed at all," Emmett said with mock disappointment. "I expected a perceptible difference, but here you are, red-faced just like always."
"Thanks a lot, Emmett." Bella replied sarcastically, blushing even deeper. My mate just laughed and stepped forward to hug her as always a little too tight. "That's my little sister. Happy birthday, Bella."
"Thanks, big brother." Bella gasped, trying to breathe normally.
Emmett finally let go of her, scratching his head in slight embarrassment. "Hmmm ... I have to step out for a second ... Don't do anything funny while I'm gone."
"I'll try." Bella snorted back.
Emmett left to install our combined birthday present. A new stereo for her truck. To be honest, I was a little disappointed not being able to do it myself ... come to think of it, I really would have liked to get my hands on her truck for some other upgrades as well. But considering our less than close relationship, I'd never ask Bella for her permission.
"Time to open presents," Alice chirped, barely able to contain herself anymore. She put her hand under Bella's elbow, towing her along to the table with the cake and the birthday presents. Why Alice had bothered with a whole birthday cake, was upon me, but maybe she wanted all of us to eat a piece of it too, so that Bella wouldn't have to eat alone. At least that would explain the stack of glass plates piled up next to the cake. I shuddered at the sheer thought of it ... unlike Emmett I wasn't too keen to experience human food.
"Alice, I told you I didn't want anything ..." Bella groaned.
"True, but I didn't listen," Alice interrupted her, grinning smugly. God, I wished Bella would smack her right in the face ... for being so arrogant and manipulative, but of course she didn't. Even if ... she would have only hurt herself in the process. And anyway, Bella wasn't the violent kind of girl ... quite the contrary. I couldn't even remember hearing her use a harsh tone of voice ...
"Open it." Alice encouraged, after she gave Bella the first package. I knew it would be empty, because it was the box that used to house the stereo, Emmett was installing right now.
"Um ... thanks." Bella muttered, confused, when she'd opened it to find nothing inside.
I laughed at her expression, and so did Jasper. "It's a stereo for your truck," he explained. "Emmett's installing it right now so that you can't return it."
Bella cracked a smile, glancing shortly at Alice, before she said. "Thanks, Jasper, Rosalie," and then she turned her head towards the door to call more loudly. "Thanks, Emmett!"
His booming laughter triggered her own and then we all joined in, laughing more out of relief than actual joy, because Bella apparently had forgiven us, for buying her something for her birthday despite her former lack of enthusiasm and her unusual reluctance to accept any kind of attention. I could see a little bit of the tension leave her face and her body.
"Open mine and Edward's next," Alice ordered, bouncing up and down in excitement. Emmett was back by now. He was standing just as close to Bella as the rest of us, not wanting to miss anything.
Bella shot Edward a short but significant look, reminding him sternly, "You promised."
"I didn't spend a dime," he assured her, brushing a strand of hair from her face.
Bella sighed in defeat, but took the package out of Alice's hand. She stuck her finger under the edge of the wrapping paper and jerked it under the tape.
"Shoot," Bella muttered, pulling her finger out and examined it intently ... apparently totally forgetting the particular company she was in at the moment.
I could immediately smell the scent of fresh human blood, and so could every other vampire in the room. Out of reflex to withstand the temptation I stopped breathing all together, but apparently Jasper hadn't done so.
It all happened so fast, that I was sure that Bella didn't even realize what was going on around her at first. I could hear Edward roaring 'NO!', throwing himself in front of Bella, thus trying to block Jasper's relentless advance on her. I was shocked for a second to react in any way ... not because of Jasper's reaction ... that was only a natural response in our kind ... but because of Edward's. He pushed Bella out of the way ... hard enough, that the human girl actually flew across the table, taking everything on it down with her, as she fell to the ground, landing in a mess of shattered glass.
In the next second Emmett grabbed Jasper from behind, locking him into his massive steel grip. Yes, my mate was physically stronger than my brother, but under the circumstances he had a hard time to keep it together himself. I knew that the scent of Bella's blood was getting to him to some extent, but apparently his mission to protect his little sister kept him sane enough to react accordingly. Jasper struggled wildly in Emmett's arms, desperate to get free. Edward was crouched in front of her, poised to spring. His eyes were pitch black, and his face contorted in a mixture of pain, fear and hunger. Both of them, were snarling and growling at each other ...
It took my some real effort to tear my eyes away from the newly created wound on Bella's right upper arm. Finally I snapped out of my trance, and moved forward to help Emmett. Together we dragged Jasper outside, through the backdoor. I carefully avoided getting to close to his mouth. His eyes were wild, pitch black from hunger ... which was odd, because he'd fed so much these past two days. As soon as we were outside, I breathed in the clear air, and so did Emmett. But he didn't dare to let go of Jasper, not yet.
I kneeled in front of my brother. "Jasper, honey. You need to snap out of it." I said, in a very soothing kind of voice. I still kept a safe distance, afraid he would attack me next, if I moved to close. "Jasper? It's me, Rose. Can you hear me? Jasper, you need to breathe ... take a deep breath, it's okay ... calm down."
His whole body trembled under the force of his emotions. I suddenly realized that he must have felt not only his own emotions, but all of ours as well. Fear and anger, combined with the bloodlust of six vampires ... No wonder he'd reacted that intensely.
I kept talking to him, trying to calm him down with my comforting words. Slowly, his body relaxed some, and then he finally stopped struggling all together. Emmett relaxed his hold on him to some extent, but didn't let go of him completely, not quite sure if it would be safe to release his brother.
"Jasper, look at me. It's okay ... nothing bad happened. Bella is okay ... " I said, knowing that it was a lie, sort of. But at least he hadn't been the one doing the damage. No, this had been all Edwards fault. I could hear the voices from the others inside the house. Esme had excused herself shortly after we'd left, but she didn't join us out here. Alice, Edward and Carlisle had moved Bella into Carlisle's office, where Carlisle took care of Bella's injuries.
At last Jasper lifted his head and locked eyes with me. I gasped inaudibly. All I could see and sense was a great amount of self-loathing and humiliation, and then to my utter astonishment a great deal of determination. Before I could say anything, Jasper had freed himself out of Emmett loose grip and stood up. He shared one last look with me, and then he took flight into the nearby woods.
I stared after him, lost for words and barely noticed Emmett moving closer to me. He put his arms around me, holding me tight. He was still trembling slightly, still under shock ...
"He will be back," Emmett whispered into my ear, trying to reassure me, to soothe me. I dry-sobbed into his chest, shaking my head. "It's going to be okay, honey. He will be back soon. Just give him some time to cool down."
"I'm not so sure about that … you didn't see his face …" I mumbled. I tried hard to shed this feeling of dread ... something told me, that I wouldn't see my brother for a long time. But I feared to share my fear with Emmett at the moment.
Just then, to make things worse, Alice and Edward joined us. "Where is he?" Edward demanded to know, and not in a nice way ... like he was concerned about his brother or something. His tone of voice dripped of hate and disgust.
I turned around to glare at him and Alice. Their features were much alike, and anger was building up inside of me.
"Don't you dare to say it!" Edward growled at me.
Okay, I didn't say it out loud, but let him know through my thoughts where I stood.
I told you so!
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Back to the present …
Jasper POV
I parked Bella's truck right in front of her house, in what I presumed from the shape of the tire tracks was her usual parking space. The Chief's car was indeed not there, and there weren't any lights on in the house or on the front porch, indicating that the house was in fact completely vacated.
I'd never been here before, but I could already tell even only seeing the house from the outside, that it really was a home. Not a mansion like the Cullen's house, big and white, and oh so clean even from the outside … no this two-storied house was the complete opposite. It was much smaller, and looked even older which it probably wasn't. I could determine that it was indeed in need of some repairs … like parts of the roof should be replaced and maybe a new painting job. But I liked it just the way it was … because it looked real not fabricated. I could already picture the inside of the house in my mind, and was quite curious to see if my imagination was corresponding with the reality or not … the interior had to be cozy and warm … like a true home … not pristine and cold … like the Cullen house …
What was the human saying? Ah, yes … Show me how you live, and I tell you who you are … yes I'm fairly sure seeing the inside of her house, would tell me something more about Bella …
We both got out of her truck simultaneously, although I rather would have opened the door for her like the gentleman I was. But something told me that Bella wouldn't have reacted too kindly to that precise gesture … because if I'd remembered correctly … and I did … my brother had done that sort of thing all the time, and I wouldn't do anything … at least not on purpose … that would remind her of him. Considering what she'd told me in the car … and regarding her expressions and feelings in general whenever I mentioned Edward … it was probably wise to avoid any subjects concerning him … at least for the time being until she was ready to talk. Of course, I was very curious … to say the least … to hear more about what had happened after I'd left … but I knew she needed time and I would give her that and more. The whole thing was obviously still a sore subject for her, and even though she tried to put up a brave face, I could sense the pain searing underneath her mask. And who could blame her? I felt pretty much the same … abandoned by the same people, the people that had claimed to love both of us …
Two peas in a pod … that's what we are … I smiled to myself dryly.
Just then, a strange and unpleasant scent hit me full force, and I wrinkled my nose in disgust. I wasn't able to identify the scent, but it reminded me of decaying animal carcasses or something like that … something foul for sure. Apparently, Bella wasn't able to smell it too, even though the smell was very strong, because she showed no sign of repulsion whatsoever. I quickly regained control of my facial expression, before she could read the disgust in my face, and misinterpret it.
Ignoring the scent, I followed Bella to the front door at a human pace. She rummaged in her pocket for a while, and then pulled out a set of keys. I stifled a laugh when she fumbled with the lock for a bit longer than necessary. She'd finally succeeded in her mission to unlock the door, and pushed down the handle. The door creaked slightly, and I expected her to enter the house without any further delay. But she didn't. Instead, she stopped in her tracks, turning around to face me. All of the sudden she seemed nervous, but I had no clue why.
"Do you want to come in, Jasper?" Bella asked hesitantly, biting her lower lip. I was surprised when waves of awkwardness and uncertainty hit me.
Why was she acting like this all of the sudden? Not half hour ago she'd tried to convince me that she trusted me … that she did have more faith in my self-control than any of my former family members. And on top of that, she'd planned to return to the Cullen house with me after picking up her stuff. So what was her problem now?
Maybe she still worried to be alone with me … considering that Peter had been around the whole time before … which is just crazy … he is the one who still dined on her kind not me … or maybe she is unsure whether she should invite an almost stranger … a man … into the house … without her father's permission? Well, that's a funny thought! Like, I was trying to seduce her or something … Well, she is beautiful, really beautiful … and the way she bites her lip, when she's nervous … is just cute … and the warmth of her skin … I'd like to feel that again … to hold her in my arms again … feeling her body pressing against mine … Head out of the gutter, Major! This is Bella for crying out loud … She doesn't think of me that way … and neither do I … I can't … I shouldn't … I DON'T … I argued with myself, completely disregarding the fact that Bella was still waiting for my response to her invitation.
"Jasper?" Bella called my name tentatively, trying to pull me out of my reverie. My vision was kind of hazy … which was weird for me being a vampire and all … and my mind was muddled by the mental pictures of me and Bella holding each other in a tight, sort of intimate embrace … and even knowing these kinds of thoughts were not only wrong, but most certainly inappropriate, I had to confess that they had an adverse effect on me. A warm, tingly kind of feeling spread through my body … but I tried my best to shake it off.
This is neither the time nor the place … I rebuked myself.
I finally refocused my vision, locking my eyes with hers. I was stunned for a second when I saw that Bella's eyes were wide in shock and that she had taken a cautious, but deliberate step back.
Shit!
I realized at once that despite my earlier promise to keep my emotions in check around her, I obviously had failed completely to accomplish that goal … again. My improper thoughts about Bella … even as fleetingly as they had been … had obviously influenced my outer demeanor. I was sure that my eyes had changed color … from their usual gold to a deep black … the typical sign of feeling hunger or lust for a vampire. No wonder that she'd reacted this way. She knew what these changes mean. She was probably thinking I was about to snap and attack her … again.
For the first time today I detected signs of fear emanating from her. Her heartbeat sped up, and I could smell the scent of adrenalin spreading through her veins … taunting my inner beast which was already trying to claw its way out. Come and get me …
I tensed up. I knew going into the house with her right now would be a huge mistake … in there her luscious scent would be lingering in every corner and it would be much more potent than what I'd had to endure on our short ride together in her truck. Strangely, it did not make me want to bite her before but now I couldn't be so sure. I had to get away from her before the monster in me would get the upper hand after all … and although I felt in some sort of control, I wouldn't take any chances … not with her.
I carefully backed away from her, putting more distance between her and me. "I'm sorry, Bella. I … I need to go … hunting." I almost whispered, but I knew she could hear me.
She just looked at me, confusion written all over her face. But she didn't reply anything. She just stood in the entrance, not making any move, which was probably a wise choice. I didn't know what I would have done, if she'd reached out for me again like she'd done before.
"I'll be back, though, I promise." I added, feeling guilty and embarrassed for acting like a coward. She frowned slightly, but nodded in agreement.
"Later then, I guess." She muttered, turning her back on me, and went into the house.
I was already on my way into the woods, when I could hear her slamming the door. She was angry with me …
Fuck … fuck … fuck …
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A/N So … how do you like my Rosalie? I'm curious to know. And what about Jasper's slip up?
Next chapter coming up soon … I promise … the slumber party with our two hot vampires – Jasper and Peter. Wow I wished I could trade place with Bella … I'm so jealous!